Ep 51: Holiday Traditions, Bathroom Reno in a Week & We Have Water Damage!

We just finished a week long bathroom renovation in the Pugmire’s home, and it turned out super awesome. We talk about how that project came about, who foot the bill, and the purpose behind it. We also talk about some of the flack we received because of some of the design elements, and our thoughts around that.

Happening This Week: Dealing With Water DamageWe’ve been going through our list this week, scheduling out our priorities for the next few months and then something happened that is forcing us to make our Master Bathroom a priority. And it has to do with portions of the ceiling below the bathroom (in the girls’ bedroom) falling in.

General Discussion: Creating and Meshing Holiday TraditionsYou like white lights, he likes colored lights. You go sledding on Christmas Eve, he makes popcorn and watches movies. We all have our traditions that make the Holidays feel like “The Holidays”, but what happens when your significant other has their own traditions that are different from yours? We talk about some of our own traditions that we’ve had, how we’ve combined and how we want to approach creating our own going forward. Jules also shares an article with a few tips for starting your own traditions, no matter what stage of life you’re in.

Game: How Many, How Many, How Many Named after Preston’s “How Many Chins” game he and his wife play on Instagram, this game has nothing to do with that and involves numbers and home design/DIY. Jules quizzes Preston and me about how many blanks are in blank, or how many blanks are in a blank. The blanks are filled in on the podcast.

Can’t Get You Outta My MindJulia: For Julia’s birthday I bought her a Wi-Fi enabled SD card for her camera, and she talks all about how much she loves it. No cables, instant transferring from a camera to her phone, and posted straight to Instagram. If you’re a blogger or social media influencer or just posting lots of pictures and you want them to look their best, this is the product you want.

Preston: Preston has known for quite some time now that he needs to start meditating, but he hasn’t really known where to start. He talks about an app he recently purchased called Headspace, that provides guided meditations that Preston has started doing each day. He shares some thoughts he has on it so far and benefits that he’s seeing.

Chris: I’ve always struggled with maintaining friendships, but some experiences recently have reminded me how important that is. I talk about some time I’ve spent with old friends recently, and why I think that everyone should take a step today to reach out to someone, just because.

BrooklinenThey sent us their Luxe Hardcore Sheet Bundle with a Window Pane Sheet and their Bedford Smoke Stripe Duvet cover back in April and we could not be happier. Our listeners get $20 off PLUS Free Shipping with code CLJ at checkout!

We’d love it so much if you could leave a rating and review for the podcast, and thank you for continuing to spread the word about our corner of the podcast world! We love hearing from new listeners every week!

28 COMMENTS

1 year ago

Love your podcast and always leave having learned something useful for my everyday life. I ordered the Flash Air but it is about half the size of my camera’s typically SD card… Do they offer a larger size that would fit in a Canon EOS 50D?

Jennifer

1 year ago

On the bookcase depth — just throwing this out there. If you are storing books you actually do want some space between them and the back of the shelf. Since they are made of paper and fabric, they are prone to moisture damage so some space back there for air circulation can minimize that.

Jackie

1 year ago

Amy

1 year ago

Hey there,

I was looking for Episode 50’s show notes, but alas, I will just leave this here.

Some things I was pondering as you were discussing your minimalist options and the rental essence for the cabin, that might help you. So little background, my family and I use a lakehouse an hour away from our home multiple times a year. So with a large crowd and many needs, I kept thinking of a few things when it came to your discussion over- baseically not over-doing the cabin. I would strongly advise to get a nice size storage ottoman for your living room couches, it allows you to store games, blankets, pillows, etc, it is soft for kiddos, shins, much more comfty to put your feet up on, and in a pinch a tray gives this the same function for a coffee table. We’ve used ours from everything from changing a diaper, to a place to put chips and dip, to a more casual game table, aside from the 12ft dining table (that yes we have for our 10 seater group). It is still clean, and you can go fairly inexpensive, and if you get faux leather, it can we disinfected, wiped down, and warms up the area. Also ensure there is a lot of places to hang towels such in the mud rooms, and bathrooms, and bed areas. As a guest you always want clear tables, clear counters, for my own stuff to come in an stay for a weekend or week, not have to worry and move stuff.

Consider stepping back and thinking less about the items you would have normally put in your home, and add in a few inexpensive items from Home Goods, Target, Kohls, Ross, and Walmart- to one, keep the cost down, keep you focused on the basics, and that will also help you rectify that struggle of your cabin vs. airbnb quality and the general safety idea. Try going back to basics, it should help you with your minimalist struggle.

Kristen

1 year ago

1 year ago

Jeni

1 year ago

Hi! So I know the color Benjamin Moore hazy skies comes up time and time again, and they definitely owe you something :) Would you ever paint a ceiling in that color?

The reason I ask is because we live in a 2-story colonial and re-did our first floor years ago. Even though the second floor is not re-done, I’d like to give the stairway and upstairs hallway a fresh coat of paint (it’s currently cream). I wanted to do the ceilings in white and the walls in Benjamin Moore nimbus (we have that on our first floor). Because the stairway ceilings are taller than I think I could manage, I got a quote from the painter we used for our exterior. When we painted the exterior he did a great job and his price was fair among the other quotes we got. For the stairway/hallway, the quote is $900. It did include some minor patching, but we are not going to spend that.

So…..now I’m thinking I could do the ceiling and walls the same so that I can put a brush and roller on an extender and not have to get up that high for cutting in. Thoughts? Could I go with a “color” like hazy skies or nimbus? Or in this case should I go with something more white? Thanks in advance!

1 year ago

I think you’d be happier with a white ceiling in the long run. One of the most beautiful things about hazy skies is where it meets white trim. We had the same predicament in our stairwell–tall ceilings, me afraid of heights and not able to cut it. I taped a 2″ angled brush to a rod extender and went nice and slow and trimmed it out that way. Hahaha, might be worth a shot!

Jeni

1 year ago

Thanks for your feedback! I’m going to give it a shot and try to do a white ceiling and (lightly) colored wall. I’ll cut in with a brush and extender. If it’s a complete fail, it’ll either all be white or I’ll call in a pro!

Mariel

1 year ago

We have a super fun Christmas friend party tradition that started 7 years ago: Tiny Tims Tiny Food Feast. Everyone brings tiny food and drinks to share! We serve on small plates and have a fun appetizers party. Everyone loves coming up with recipes for tiny foods.

Rosemarie

1 year ago

For your friend with her Christmas tree: LED color changing Christmas tree so you can alternate colored lights and white lights. We just got one and love it! I always had colored lights as a child but recently started liking white lights. This is our first prelit tree and I liked the option that we could switch back to colored lights if I wanted too. Well my daughter made that decision for us basically, she wants colored lights and gets upset if it’s just white. So now I only get the white lights when she goes to bed lol.

1 year ago

1 year ago

I was able to listen to the podcast today during my hour and a half trip ‘to town’ and I really dug it. First off- old version of AMC was full of Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Doris Day. I love those movies. Second- Brisket and latkes for Christmas Eve dinner. Then everyone who stays overnight on Christmas Eve gets to open a present and the present is always pj’s. My oldest (Jules is 12 this weekend) has been talking about Christmas Eve for a month. Love it!!!

kate

1 year ago

I have a tradition I do with my son… it’s called the 12 days before Christmas. It starts on the 13th and goes to the 24th. The items change every year with some key ones that stay the same that tie into goings on around town like a winter festival. I write a little note and tuck it into his stocking each day and he comes home from school and is so excited to read it. If I feel extra festive, I try to make it rhyme. Here are some examples… we make coffee filter snowflakes, get hot chocolate and drive around to look at holiday lights, watch a favorite holiday movie, make Christmas cookies with mommy, make an ornament… all sorts of fun things. Sometimes he gets a little gift like Christmas jammies or as simple as a candy cane. It takes a little planning, but it’s a fun tradition and it is great for family togetherness.

angela s sewell

1 year ago

Let me preface this by saying that the last time Preston said, “Do it Angela!”, I was prompted to submit a question about linen drapes which ended up on your question/answer episode. This time, when he said it after the Wonderbly ad, I couldn’t help but laugh because I just gifted my nephew with one of the books (I used the discount code!)! I’m pretty sure my best friends are going to disown me if they hear me reference your podcast (or YHL) one more time! Keep the good stuff coming!

Emily

1 year ago

Lauren

1 year ago

Great podcast! Random note, I actually can’t believe that someone critiqued the fiberglass surround! We tiled a shower a couple years ago, and it was soooo much work. Now we have two more kids and are about to tackle another bathroom… no thanks to tiling. We are definitely using a surround. Also, as the head cleaner in the house, I passionately hate scrubbing tile grout… so there’s that, too! I can’t wait to see your tutorial video; I’m sure we’ll be using it when we start our bathroom reno in January!

Reader

1 year ago

1 year ago

Reader

1 year ago

Monica

1 year ago

Great podcast today-really liked the discussion about holiday traditions! As far as your bathroom travails, I would warn you to be ready for something more than water damage due to splashing – there would have to be some major, major splashing to cause that much dampness. Seems more likely that there is a slow leak of some kind or some othe issue – am sure you will figure it all out!

1 year ago

angela s sewell

1 year ago

We had this issue with our children’s bathtub and it turned out to be the gasket on the overflow thing. It was completely dry-rotted, so not necessarily anything huge, but it caused a waterfall in the kitchen below when the ceiling finally couldn’t hold it.